Chapter 60
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Looming Threats
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The old man’s dismissive attitude only made the man in the bamboo hat, addressed as the Inspector, even more deferential.
“It’s just the two of us here, sir. Please, dispense with the formalities.”
“Don’t you think your current attire is far too disrespectful for you to be making such a request?”
“Ah!”
The middle-aged man, belatedly realizing his mistake, removed his bamboo hat and bowed his head to the elder once more.
“My apologies. I’ve grown so accustomed to this that it now feels like a part of me…”
At the man’s polite apology, the old man’s gaze softened slightly.
Seizing the opportunity, Baek Un-hwi continued.
“Though I may be under the Martial Alliance’s roof, I have never once forgotten my roots. I am, and will be until the day I die, a man of the White Sword Sect. My becoming an inspector for the Alliance was also for the sake of our sect’s revival…”
“And a man like that turns his back on his own father’s death?”
The old man’s speech shifted from formal to informal.
“I had no other way.”
Baek Un-hwi smiled bitterly, meeting the eyes of Baek Cheon-in, his uncle and an elder of the White Sword Sect.
“The circumstances at the time were too unfavorable for us. Regardless of his intentions, it was an undeniable fact that my father associated with unorthodox factions, and the Alliance relentlessly exploited that point.”
“You bastard!”
“But thanks to that, did I not secure a key position within the Martial Alliance? It was the condition for dispelling the mutual misunderstanding.”
“Did you call me here to boast about how you sold your father’s life and honor for your own success?”
“Of course not.”
Despite the sharp accusation, Baek Un-hwi’s gaze remained steady.
“I requested this meeting because I believe the time is drawing near.”
“…?”
“Our White Sword Sect cannot continue to be burdened with menial tasks at Namgung Baek’s command, can it?”
A glint flickered in Baek Cheon-in’s eyes.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what you heard. I mean that the time has come for our sect to prepare for a new leap forward.”
Baek Cheon-in stared at Baek Un-hwi with sharp eyes.
It was an intense gaze, filled with the intent to dissect his innermost thoughts.
“Rolling around with cunning foxes and sly serpents has made you no different from them.”
Seeing Baek Un-hwi remain calm and composed even in the face of his sharp criticism, Baek Cheon-in reluctantly nodded.
“Fine. I’ll hear you out. But if you spout any nonsense…”
“Would I truly have brought you all the way to this remote place for something trivial, Uncle?”
Cutting him off, Baek Un-hwi got straight to the point.
“The Divine Physician’s son is here in Muwi.”
Baek Cheon-in’s eyes widened.
“The Divine Physician had a son?”
“Yes.”
“Come to think of it, I have been hearing rumors about the Divine Physician’s successor lately…”
Baek Cheon-in cast a doubtful glance.
“How can you be so sure?”
“There have been a few incidents.”
Baek Un-hwi paused for a moment before continuing.
“Not long ago, there was an accident where all the members of the Evil-Shattering Corps dispatched here died, swept away by a fire.”
“A fire? Just from that?”
Noticing his uncle’s growing interest, Baek Un-hwi curled his lips into a faint smile.
“It was no accident.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“Because I was the one who investigated the scene.”
Even if one were to concede that all the corps members had been drunk and caught in the fire, the points of origin were too scattered.
The wine jars rolling about were also strange; the heavy soot inside was clear evidence of burnt sugar residue.
In other words, proof that the wine had boiled and evaporated.
If they had all drunk enough to be intoxicated, why would most of the wine jars have soot inside?
“Someone killed them and disguised it as a fire.”
“What audacity.”
Baek Cheon-in shook his head with a look of disgust.
Who in the martial world today would dare to challenge the Martial Alliance so openly?
“Are you saying the Divine Physician’s son is connected to that incident?”
Baek Un-hwi nodded.
“Before the incident, the person leading the Evil-Shattering Corps at the time sent me a message.”
It stated that a boy connected to Pung Jin-seong, the head of the Jinseong Medical House, had treated a member of an evil sect under an execution order, and that they had detained him for investigation.
“You’ve heard the rumors that Pung Jin-seong treated Namgung Baek’s daughter, haven’t you?”
Baek Cheon-in nodded.
“There were three or four other physicians with him at the time, and the description of one of them closely matches the boy from the report.”
“Which means…”
Baek Un-hwi’s eyes gleamed.
“My older brother is currently clinging to past glories, content with the present, and afraid to move forward. If the Sect Leader is like that, our sect will find it difficult to even muster the strength to seek revival.”
Baek Cheon-in frowned.
It was a statement that could easily cause a great misunderstanding. But it wasn’t a misunderstanding.
“I want to make our sect one that not even the Five Great Families, let alone the Nine Great Sects, can ignore.”
“Are you saying…”
Finally understanding Baek Un-hwi’s true intentions, Baek Cheon-in’s voice trailed off in bewilderment.
“Uncle, please become the Sect Leader.”
“…!”
“Isn’t it ridiculous that the position of Sect Leader was decided by a will in the first place? If that were the case, he should have been called the Family Head, not the Sect Leader. Our sect is no longer just for the Baek family, is it?”
“…”
“That’s why I was never attached to the position of Sect Leader from the beginning. Besides, I am not fit for such a role.”
“…Do you truly think so?”
Confirming the wavering in Baek Cheon-in’s eyes, Baek Un-hwi nodded.
“In a situation like this, only those with the courage to move forward can seize the opportunity. I believe you, Uncle, are more qualified than anyone.”
Baek Cheon-in stared at Baek Un-hwi in silence for a long time.
He himself was the one most dissatisfied with the current direction of the White Sword Sect.
Moreover, the fact that his younger brother had become the Sect Leader, pushing him, the eldest son, aside, remained an indelible stain of shame.
‘Can I trust him?’
Baek Un-hwi’s words were enough to sway his heart, but his long-held suspicions were too great to accept them at face value.
“Do you have a plan?”
He asked, testing him, without giving a definite answer.
“If we can secure the Sacred Hand’s Divine Elixir, the future of the White Sword Sect is all but guaranteed.”
“The problem, I suppose, is the Divine Physician’s son.”
“I have a separate plan for that matter.”
“After you secure him, do you plan to persuade the boy?”
“That would be for the best, but…”
Baek Un-hwi’s words trailed off ambiguously, a vague smile playing on his lips.
Baek Cheon-in nodded.
“Yes. For the greater good, sometimes sacrifices must be made.”
If it was the Sacred Hand’s Divine Elixir that once shook the martial world, its value was more than enough.
“However, there is a problem.”
At Baek Un-hwi’s next words, Baek Cheon-in was startled.
“The Ice Jade Fairy is by the boy’s side.”
“The Ice Jade Fairy?”
Baek Cheon-in asked, his brow deeply furrowed.
“You mean that monster is still alive?”
“Namgung Baek confirmed it himself… so it must be true. They say she hasn’t aged a day, as if time has passed her by.”
Seeing the anxious flicker in Baek Cheon-in’s eyes, Baek Un-hwi inwardly smirked.
“But I have something in mind, so you need not worry too much.”
“I do not fear her!”
Baek Cheon-in shouted defensively.
“I know. What’s important is that the boy is here in Muwi, and that there is a way to deal with the Ice Jade Fairy, isn’t there?”
Baek Cheon-in asked with a stern expression.
“What is this method you’re thinking of?”
Though inwardly displeased by his attitude, Baek Un-hwi did not let his feelings show on his face.
“It is not a difficult task.”
“…?”
“Because there are those who will do our work for us.”
Still confused, Baek Cheon-in finally let out a gasp of realization at Baek Un-hwi’s following words.
“There are some bastards who grind their teeth at the mere mention of the Divine Physician of Sacred Hands, aren’t there?”
“You’re talking about the Joyful Abode.”
Baek Un-hwi nodded.
“They will be here soon. They are the kind of people who would go through fire and water to achieve their goals, so they will surely create quite a disturbance.”
“Will they be enough? What if they fail?”
Baek Un-hwi smiled quietly and added.
“If once is not enough, then twice. If twice is not enough, then three, four times. We just need to keep shaking them, over and over again.”
* * *
In the early hours of the Tiger, when deep darkness enveloped the surroundings.
A group of figures slipped into Muwi under the cover of the profound silence.
Clad head to toe in black stealth attire, they numbered exactly thirty.
Concealing their presence as much as possible, their movements, melting into the darkness, were exceedingly furtive and cautious.
“Brother, is the Divine Physician’s son really here?”
At the question from a companion at his side, the man in black leading the group nodded.
“The information is solid.”
A chilling killing intent emanated from the eyes of the man who had first asked the question.
“Finally, we can avenge our eldest brother!”
“Yes. It’s a bit of a shame it’s not the Divine Physician himself, but it is certainly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“But do you think the Divine Physician’s son will have the Sacred Hand’s Divine Elixir?”
“Haven’t they said that a rich family doesn’t fall for three generations? There must be something worth taking. At the very least, we must find out the formula.”
“I hear he’s just a kid who’s still wet behind the ears. How hard can it be to make a brat like that talk?”
The leader of the group exuded a thick aura of killing intent.
“Just thinking about how our leader, our eldest brother, died makes my blood boil even now.”
At his words, a flash of lightning-like light flickered in the eyes of every man in black lined up behind him.
Gritting their teeth and nursing their grudge.
They had been sharpening the blades of vengeance for twenty years.
The Joyful Abode, to which they had once belonged, had wielded absolute influence over the Shanxi region.
The focal point of the northern unorthodox martial world.
However, with the death of their leader, Ak Yeong-san, their power began to decline rapidly.
To make matters worse, pushed back by the expansion of the Martial Alliance, which represented the orthodox martial world, they were still in a state of rapid decline.
“This is all because of that man called the Divine Physician!”
During its golden age, when the Joyful Abode claimed to be the hegemon of the Shanxi region, its power was so great that even the Nine Great Sects dared not provoke it lightly.
Then, due to a certain incident, they became entangled with the Beggar’s Sect. A minor misunderstanding grew, eventually leading to bloodshed.
Blood called for blood, and resentment begot more resentment.
The Joyful Abode expended considerable effort to wipe out all the beggars in the Shanxi region, but the strength of the Beggar’s Sect did not end there.
Masters of the Beggar’s Sect from all over the Central Plains gathered for another decisive battle, and a storm of blood raged ceaselessly throughout Shanxi.
In the end, Ak Yeong-san, the leader of the Joyful Abode, and the young leader of the Beggar’s Sect agreed to settle everything with a one-on-one duel.
Their confrontation was truly a battle for the fate of heaven and earth.
After a tremendous fight that shook the heavens and overturned the earth, the two reached a state of mutual destruction.
That was when the Divine Physician appeared.
Witnessing the Divine Physician’s medical arts that saved the dying beggar chief, the members of the Joyful Abode clung to him, begging him to save their leader’s life.
At first, the Divine Physician refused, saying he had used his only Sacred Hand’s Divine Elixir and had no way to save him. But their pleas were so earnest that he broke his principle of only treating members of the orthodox faction and treated Ak Yeong-san.
However, Ak Yeong-san never opened his closed eyes again.
As a result, over the course of two decades, the Joyful Abode was reduced to a state no different from any minor sect.
“That bastard must have intentionally refused to treat him!”
The Joyful Abode had not forgotten the grudge from that day.
Furthermore, if they could just obtain the Sacred Hand’s Divine Elixir, couldn’t the Joyful Abode spread its wings and soar once more!
The leader of the men in black, Ak Yeong-gi, issued a command to his group.
“We will handle this as quickly and covertly as possible to avoid attracting the attention of the Martial Alliance. We must not leave any traces behind.”
Toward his subordinates, who nodded in lieu of a verbal response, Ak Yeong-gi said,
“Move without mistakes.”
Then, the man in black who had spoken first headed toward a specific location with a contingent of the group.
Leading a dozen men in black, he arrived at an apothecary located at the end of a market alley.
“Is this the place?”
Ak Yeong-ho, the current second-in-command of the Joyful Abode, pointed at the apothecary.
“We will use the owner of this place to lure out that young brat.”
It was still unknown what kind of prize the bait they cast would reel in. But it didn't matter either way.
They had split their numbers for this very purpose from the beginning.
If Han Seol-hwa was the master that rumors claimed, then tonight would likely bring more misfortune than luck.
Whichever way that misfortune tilted, the other side would gain an advantage that would more than offset the damage.
“Bring him.”
At Ak Yeong-ho’s command, the men in black vaulted over the apothecary’s wall in unison.